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Is working on a 1-year postdoctoral project better or worse than multi-year (2–3 years) postdoctoral projects for a research academic career, and why?

A supplementary question: Is three 1-year postdoc better or worse than one 3-year postdoc?

N.B. I am from Computer Science.

user366312
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    @Aruralreader, what are your aspirations? -- To become a research professor as soon/quickly as possible. – user366312 Dec 16 '23 at 03:32
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    I would always prefer to longer project. You can leave after a year if you find something better. Since becoming a (research) professor involves a good deal of luck, be sure to have a plan b. – Brauer Suzuki Dec 17 '23 at 05:26
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    One year? Move halfway across the country or continent, find a flat, build a new social environment, and after one year move to the next place? – Karl Dec 17 '23 at 21:22
  • Is it really a 1-year postdoc, or is it a 1-year renewable (with near automatic renewals)? At my national lab all postdocs are temporary employees and their contracts are one-year renewable. – Jon Custer Dec 20 '23 at 15:14
  • @JonCuster, 1-year non-renewable. However, you are welcome to tell your part of the story. – user366312 Dec 20 '23 at 15:43
  • @user366312 - Hmmmm.... Personally, I would avoid a one-year non-renewable appointment - too much time spend relocating and not enough time to get to high productivity. – Jon Custer Dec 20 '23 at 15:44

3 Answers3

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My advisors always recommended at least 2 years for a postdoc. The first reason is because the transition to a new location and research group is cumbersome. Therefore the first 3 months is slow progress.

The second reason is that the search process for a new postdoc takes some time; this is doubly true for faculty positions. In my field the timeline from application to start for a faculty position is about 9 months. Even if you only have to apply for a new postdoc, that would ideally start several months before your current appointment is set to end.

So a one year postdoc just doesn’t give much benefit in my field-unless you do it as a year deferral from an already accepted faculty role.

Dawn
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    Yeah the problem with a one year postdoc is that you would basically have to start looking for a new one as soon as you started. – Tom Dec 18 '23 at 10:12
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First, this is highly field-specific. In experimental wet lab life-sciences research, for instance, a one-year postdoc will barely get you any data, let alone a paper.

Second, if you aspire to become a research professor, what will determine your chances is a combination of your output (i.e. papers, presentations at conferences etc.), your funding record, your prior training and expertise/skill set and your future research vision/ideas. All of these will need time to accumulate and mature and the latter two will also determine how attractive you are as a hire depending on departmental needs and/or 'what's hot' in the field (neither of which you will have much control over). How you reach this stage, matters much much less. Some people will be ready to start a group straight out of their PhD (rare I would say), others benefit from more training and time (myself included).

Some unsolicited advice: thinking about your postdoc in terms of "speed" and "quick, get me out of here so I can become a research professor" sounds like the worst motivation to start a postdoc in the first place.

terdon
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BioBrains
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    First, this is highly field-specific - Is it? What is a field where a 1-year postdoc would be better? I don't think it's better in theoretical fields either. – Kimball Dec 17 '23 at 15:24
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    In theoretical computer science you can apply after one year of postdoc. In computer science in general, you can apply without any postdoc. – Yuval Filmus Dec 17 '23 at 19:13
  • I worked both on theoretical physics and applied Biostatistics. 1 year postdoc would be terrible in both fields. The only way I would accept a 1 year postdoc would be to extend a current contract, or if it wouldn't require reallocation. In addition, the project wouldn't demand to learn many new things and provide clear deliverables for the period. – The Doctor Dec 18 '23 at 15:59
  • All of the "maturing" you're describing purportedly used to happen during the first years of a TT job back when people typically got those directly out of a PhD more frequently. I.e., back when supply and demand wasn't as terrible for workers in academia. It's the same in hotter subjects that still have some of that character, like CS. "Quick, get me a promotion to a position that is less garbage from a labor perspective" is a great motivation to have in a postdoc. – user176372 Dec 18 '23 at 19:54
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Most of the open positions as assistant professor require at least 3 years of postdoc experience. A period of 3 to 5 years is a reasonable postdoc training, even though this can be highly dependent on your field. I have seen one postdoc becoming assistant professor after 2 years only, but this is very unusual. Conversely, I know many people who have been postdocs for over 10 years. This is because you need remarkable achievements to become a tenure-track assistant professor (several high profile publications, grant acquisition, etc.). If your CV is strong enough, none will force you to do a second postdoc. You better move forward with your career. I agree that a postdoc needs to be reasonably fast if they want to apply for a starting grant to open their lab. Eligibility criteria for these funding opportunities usually require max of 7-8 years from the PhD award date.

Simone Brioschi
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